DOCSLIB.ORG

Mmvol 4 16.Pub

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mmvol 4 16.Pub MONTGOMERY MESSENGER The Newsletter of the Residents of Montgomery Place Retirement Community 5550 South Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 60637 April 2016, Vol. 26, No. 4 JACKIE R OBINSON D AY . All Star, to be the 1949 National League batting AND WENDELL S MITH champion, to play for the 1955 World Series n Friday, April 15, many major league champions, to be National League stolen base O baseball players will be wearing the leader twice, and to be a member of the Major number 42 in League Baseball All-Century team. Jackie honor of Jackie Robinson was inducted into the National Robinson’s Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 on the first breaking the ballot in his first year on the ballot. color barrier in Major League Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia, in 1919, Baseball on that the youngest of five children in a sharecropper day in 1947. family. When the family later moved to Pasadena, California, he attended Muir High Branch Rickey, School, Pasadena Junior College, and UCLA, general manager where he was an outstanding athlete in football, of the Brooklyn basketball, track, and baseball. He served in the Dodgers, hired Jackie Robinson, no. 42 US Army as a second lieutenant during WWII, Robinson as eventually playing in the Negro Leagues after second baseman his discharge. on the condition that Robinson agree to calmly “turn the other cheek” to the racial insults that In retirement, Jackie Robinson was a TV would follow his debut as the first African- analyst, and then vice president of Chock Full American player in American baseball. O’Nuts Coffee, an unusual position for a black Robinson agreed, and played so well that he man at that time. He was active in the civil was named Major League Baseball Rookie of rights movement and served on the board of the the Year that year. NAACP, founded the Freedom National Bank of Harlem, and established the Jackie Robinson Robinson’s joining the Dodgers ended the racial Construction Co. to provide housing for low- segregation that had kept black baseball players income families. out of the Major Leagues since the 1880s. He famously played for the Dodgers from 1947 to But wait—there’s a Montgomery Place 1956. Robinson went on to be named a six-time connection to this story. Who suggested Jackie continued p. 2 page 2 APRIL 2016 Jackie Robinson from p. 1 Robinson’s name to Branch Rickey? None In 1993, Wendell Smith became the first other than the African-American recipient of the J. G. Spink Pittsburgh Award for meritorious baseball writing. His Courier sports- w i d o w , writer, Wendell Wyonella, Smith, husband accepted the of our present award and resident donated his Wyonella papers to the Smith. Baseball Hall of Fame’s At age 19, archives, Wendell was a providing Wendell Smith, sportswriter promising research pitcher who material on had been told integration in by a Detroit Tigers scout that he would like baseball. to sign Smith but could not, because he did not have the authority to hire a black man. In 2014, Smith Wyonella Smith posthumously After Smith graduated from West Virginia received sports journalism’s Red Smith Award. State College, he pursued his sportswriting Barbara Wilson career with the Courier covering the Negro Leagues, and he hoped he could help to remove the barriers that denied black players entry into professional sports. In the years that followed, Smith helped to organize tryouts for black players. NEW Y ORKER R EADERS he New Yorker Readers will meet on After the Dodgers signed Robinson, they T Saturday, April 16, at 2 p.m. in the asked Smith to accompany him on the road, LLLC. The article because the team stayed in segregated to be discussed is hotels. Smith did this throughout the 1946 “The New Koch— and 1947 seasons, to offer support and the Rebranding of counsel. The 2013 movie 42, about Jackie the Billionaire Robinson’s career, shows Wendell Smith’s Brothers,” by Jane contributions in detail. Mayer. Bill Barron will lead the Smith eventually came to Chicago to work discussion. The for the white-owned Chicago Herald article is in the American, and in 1948 he was voted into January 25 issue. If you need a copy of the the Baseball Writers’ Association of article, please call me at 4647. America, the first African American Dorothy Scheff, Chair, New Yorker Readers accepted. Smith joined WGN in 1964 as a TV sportscaster. He died in 1972, just a month after Jackie Robinson’s death. APRIL 2016 page 3 Mandel Hall for Wolf’s Italian Serenade in G OUT AND A BOUT Major; Janáček’s Quartet No. 1, Kreutzer Sonata ; and Beethoven’s Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No. 1, Razumovsky. Tickets required. ♦ Friday, April 1, at 12:30 p.m. the bus will go to Symphony Center for a CSO B Series concert. ♦ Wednesday, April 13, at 9:45 a.m. the bus will Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki conjures go to the Art Institute for Van Gogh’s famous Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade , represented bedrooms. Tickets required. by a dazzling solo violin. The violin takes center stage again as Gil Shaham plays Bartók’s folksy ♦ Friday, April 15, at noon the bus will go for Violin Concerto No. 2. Debussy’s Gigues , based lunch to Moon Palace, an Asian cuisine restaurant. on the well-known English sailor’s chorus The Keel Row , rounds out this colorful program. ♦ Saturday, April 16, at 11 a.m. the bus will go Tickets required. to the Met Live in HD to see Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux featuring soprano Sondra Radvanovsky ♦ Saturday, April 2, at 11 a.m. the bus will go as Queen Elizabeth I, forced to sign the death to the Met Live in HD with Puccini’s opera warrant of the nobleman she loves.Tenor Matthew Madama Butterfly directed by Gary Halvorson Polenzani plays Devereux. Tickets required. with Kristine Opolais as Butterfly and Roberto Alagna as Lt. B. F. Pinkerton. Tickets required. ♦ Sunday, April 17, at 2 p.m. the bus will go to the South Shore Cultural Center for the Winter ♦ Tuesday, April 5, at 11:50 a.m. the bus will Quartet in an All Access concert that includes go to the Lutheran School of Theology at Raimi’s Duo for Violin and Viola, Schnittke’s Chicago for an organ concert. Free. String Quartet No. 3, and Beethoven’s String Quartet in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131. Free, but ♦ Friday, April 8, at 7 p.m. the bus will go to tickets required; see Concierge Dino for tickets. Mandel Hall for the Artemis Quartet. The peerless performers from Germany bring their ♦ Wednesday, April 20, at 1 p.m. the bus will go new member, Chicago native Anthea Kreston, to to the U of C Service League to hear Joanne Dill speak about “The Chicago River: Turbulent History and Recent Renewal.” Free. CONTRIBUTORS THIS I SSUE ♦ Friday, April 22, at 12:30 p.m. the bus will go to Symphony Center where Riccardo Muti Editor: Carma Forgie conducts two dramatic Tchaikovsky overtures Contributors: Laurieann Chutis, Alex Elwyn, inspired by two of Shakespeare’s greatest works, Carma Forgie, Paula Givan, Phil Hefner, Kyoko Inoue, Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest . Completing Leah Kadden, Evi Levin, Gerry Martin, Muriel the concert is Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, Rogers, Dorothy Scheff, Marilyn Weigensberg, featuring soprano Rosa Feola. Tickets required. Barbara Wilson, Anne Zeidman Staff Contributors: Sheila Bogen, ♦ Sunday, April 24, at 2 p.m. the bus will go to Chaplain Julianne Buenting Logan center for the Pacifica Quartet. Mozart’s Artwork: Nate Kalichman Quartet in G Major, the first of the Haydn Layout: Carolyn Allen Quartets , was dedicated to the composer’s friend Production: Dino Celik and mentor. The Shostakovich Quartet No. 11 is Proofreader: Phil Hefner dedicated to the second violinist of the Beethoven Calendars: Carma Forgie, Barbara Wilson Quartet. The massive Beethoven Quartet in Editor Next Month: Evi Levin continued on p. 4 page 4 APRIL 2016 Out & About, continued from p. 3 MUSINGS FROM S HEILA C-sharp minor concludes the concert. Tickets required. he long winter months are finally receding, T and signs of spring are vying for our attention. ♦ Tuesday, April 26, at 11 a.m. the bus will go New life is evident in the parks, on the sidewalks, to the Loop stopping coming and going at the and especially on the trees. The magnificent pink Cultural Center and Water Tower Place. Free. and white blossoms always fill me with joy, and the wonder of renewal fills me with awe. ♦ Saturday, April 30, at 11 a.m. the bus will go to the Met Live in HD with Richard Strauss to Montgomery Place is also enjoying the new see Elektra. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts. season; the new chillers for the air conditioning Tickets required. system will soon be installed. Keep an eye out for Carma Forgie a big crane and heavy-duty equipment, but don’t be alarmed; the installation shouldn’t take long. PASSOVER 2016 The canopy over our front door is due to be ost years we have the celebrations of the replaced. We plan to add our full street address to M Jewish holy days of Passover and the avoid the confusion first-time visitors may Christian Holy Week and Easter Sunday close on experience. In addition, I am sure you will be the calendar. Not so in 2016, since Lent and delighted to learn that we have requested bids on Easter were early this year in the Christian an illuminated sign to be mounted on the lawn calendar.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • J353F (07780)/ J395 (07920) HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES in JOURNALISM University of Texas School of Journalism Fall 2013
    Historical Perspectives in journalism 1 J353F (07780)/ J395 (07920) HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES IN JOURNALISM University of Texas School of Journalism Fall 2013 Instructor: Dr. Tom Johnson Office: Belo 3.328 Phone: 232-3831 email: [email protected] Office Hours: 11-12 MW 12W, by appointment and when you least expect it Class Time:10-11 MWF, CMA 6.170 REQUIRED READINGS Wm David Sloan, The Media in America: A History (8th Edition). Reading packet: available on Blackboard. COURSE DESCRIPTION Development of the mass media; social, economic, and political factors that have contributed to changes in the press. Three lecture hours a week for one semester. Prerequisite: Upper-division standing and a major in journalism, or consent of instructor. OBJECTIVES J353F will trace the development of American media with an emphasis on cultural, technological and economic backgrounds of press development. To put it more simply, this course will examine the historic relationship between American society and the media. An underlying assumption of this class is that the content and values of the media have been greatly influenced by changes in society over the last 300 years. Conversely, the media have helped shape our society. More specifically, this course will: 1. Examine how journalistic values such as objectivity have evolved. 2. Explain how the media influenced society and how society influenced the media during different periods of our nation's history. Historical Perspectives in journalism 2 3. Examine who controlled the media at different periods of time, how that control was exercised and how that control influenced media content. 4. Investigate the relationship between the public and the media during different periods of time.
    [Show full text]
  • Ihe University of Notre Dame Alumni Association
    The Archives of The University of Notre Dame 607 Hesburgh Library Notre Dame, IN 46556 574-631-6448 [email protected] Notre Dame Archives: Alumnus Vol. 38, No. 3 SEPTEMBER, 1960 NEWS: •NOTRE oOUR BELOVED C.^RDIN.A.L OTIAR.\ DIES WE HAVE A NEW PRELATE- DAME BISHOP-ELECT MENDEZ •ALUMNUS FIRST NOTRE D.-\ME PILGRIMAGE TO EUROPE FEATURES: NOTRE DAME MEN OF SCIENCE NICK LAMBER'IO. REPORTER FATHERS AND SONS AT NOTRE DAME DEPARTMENTS: THE WHITE HOUSE June 7, 1960 COMMENCEMENT Dear Father Heshurgh: 1960: UNIVERSAL NOTRE § DAME NIGHT Now that I am hack in Washington I want to try to tell you hov/ deeply appreciative I am of the honor REUNIONS the University of Notre Daire did me in conferring upon me, on Sunday, an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. I am particularly touched hy the sentiments EDITORIAL: BUSINESS set forth in the citation that you presented to me; I ST.VrESMEN AND A hope I shall alv/ays he worthy of the generosity of NEW LIBRARY those statements. As I am sure you know, I enjoyed greatly heing v/ith you and seeing the splendid young people that comprise YOU, THE ALUMNI — the Senior Class and the entire student hody. It was PART I a privilege, too, to meet so many of the memhers of SELF-STUDY SUR\'EY OF THE your faculty and to see at first hand the operation of 1960 REUNION CLASSES one of our finest and most distinguished Universities. I congratulate you on the great contribution you are making to our country.
    [Show full text]
  • Records Vs. Conferences
    Records vs. Conferences ATLANTIC COAST ND vs. ............................Won Lost Tied BIG 12 Clemson ..........................................1 1 0 ND vs. ............................Won Lost Tied PACIFIC-10 Duke ................................................2 1 0 Baylor ..............................................2 0 0 ND vs. ............................Won Lost Tied Florida State .................................. 2 4 0 Colorado........................................ 3 2 0 Georgia Tech ................................26 5 1 Arizona.......................................... 2 1 0 Iowa State .................................... 0 0 0 Arizona State ................................ 2 0 0 Maryland ........................................1 0 0 Kansas .......................................... 4 1 1 Miami ..........................................15 7 1 California ...................................... 4 0 0 Kansas State ................................ 0 0 0 Oregon ........................................ 1 0 1 North Carolina..............................15 1 0 Missouri ........................................ 2 2 0 North Carolina State......................0 1 0 Oregon State ................................ 0 1 0 Nebraska ...................................... 7 8 1 Stanford ...................................... 12 6 0 Virginia............................................1 0 0 Oklahoma .................................... 8 1 0 Virginia Tech ..................................0 0 0 UCLA ...........................................
    [Show full text]
  • Press Release for the Best American Sports Writing 2002 Published By
    Press Release The Best American Sports Writing 2002 by Rick Reilly, guest editor and Glenn Stout, series editor "Many fans believe that great sports writing — think Red Smith or Shirley Povich — has gone the way of afternoon papers and three-dollar bleacher seats. They are wrong, as this wonderful annual collection has been proving every year since 1991 . A great tradition continues with another outstanding collection." — Booklist "Twenty-eight stories, no duds in the bunch, and a few to reread after a dog and a beer." — Kirkus Reviews "At their best, these essays go beyond sport and into social commentary; these aren't pleas to change the world but acknowledgment of what draws one to sport in the first place: passion." — Publishers Weekly About the Book For more than a decade, The Best American Sports Writing series has been "the single most necessary annual addition to any self-respecting general sports collection," according to Booklist. For The Best American Sports Writing 2002, guest editor Rick Reilly has chosen a collection of twenty-eight stories focusing on everything from running to racecar driving, boxing to baseball. Sometimes uplifting, sometimes unsettling, and always engrossing, these are slices of the sporting life guaranteed to keep readers riveted. www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com 1 of 2 Copyright (c) 2003, Houghton Mifflin Company, All Rights Reserved From Frank Deford's fascinating portrait of former heavyweight champion Max Schmeling to Elizabeth Gilbert's horrifying and exhilarating look at a young bullfighter who has
    [Show full text]
  • Watching Baseball Games Remotely Before Television
    From the Fall 2012 issue of Sports Tech Journal - all rights reserved Watching Baseball Games Remotely Before Television by Mark Schubin The infamous 1919 “Black Sox” World Series began in Cincinnati on October 1. According to the book Eight Men Out by Eliot Asinof (Macmillan, 2000), gambler Arnold Rothstein, later accused but never indicted of paying to influence the results, headed to New York’s Ansonia Hotel, where he lived, to watch the opening of the game. He was reportedly looking for a signal that the fix was on. The paragraph above is true. It is also seemingly impossible. On what mechanism could Rothstein have been watching live a remote baseball game in 1919? In the U.S. baseball wasn’t televised until 1939. There were some earlier baseball television moments -- in Japan a 60-scanning-line electromechanical television system shot a baseball game in 1931, and, earlier, in 1928 a Bell Labs engineer hypothesized bringing a 50-line system to the Polo Grounds -- but 1919 is earlier still. Even the first baseball game broadcast merely on radio wasn’t until 1921. Nevertheless, Rothstein was able to watch the 1919 series opener, as it was happening, almost 600 miles away from where it was being played. According to Eight Men Out , other viewers of the image- display system he was watching at the Ansonia Hotel “would testify to its excitement. It was almost like being there, they said.” Although baseball has antecedents dating back at least to the 14 th century, the first newspaper account of a game and perhaps the first game with some recognizably modern elements (three strikes to an out, three outs to a team’s inning, fair & foul territory, an umpire, etc.) both date to the fall of 1845.
    [Show full text]
  • Monopoly in Professional Sports
    MONOPOLY IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS JAY H. TOPKIS t IN the February 23 issue of The Sporting 1News, baseball's weekly bible, appeared pictures of the late Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and of Judge Jerome N. Frank. That the pictures were printed could not have surprised most readers. By that time, two weeks after the deci- sion in Gardella v. Clzandler,' every baseball fan in the country knew of the controversy that was rocking professional sports. But it must have surprised some to see that in the pictures Justice Holmes looked fierce while Judge Frank looked benign. In the eyes of most of the sports world, Justice Holmes should have worn the look of benevolence, while Judge Frank should have come equipped with horns. GARDELLA V. CHANDLER: THE PROBLEM POSED Since the case made the front page of even the N¥ew York Herald Tribune,2 and since most of the legal issues have been well treated else- where, 3 a quick recapitulation should here suffice. In 1945, Danny Gardella was an outfielder on the New York Giants. At the start of the 1946 season, Gardella and the Giant management quarreled. The cause of the quarrel is uncertain. It may have been that Gardella wanted a salary increase. It may have been that his talents were limited. Or, as Gardella claims, it may have been his refusal to wear a necktie. 4 In any event, Gardella left the Giants and signed for the season with the Mexican League, as did 17 other players from various clubs in the major leagues.s As the migration to Mexico got under way, the High Commissioner of American baseball, Albert B.
    [Show full text]
  • Live Auction
    Meet the Auctioneer – Patrick B. Haggerty Bethesda Big Train is pleased to welcome back our auctioneer, Patrick Haggerty. Pat calls Benefit Auctions for schools, hospitals and other philanthropic causes all over the country. He is known for his high energy and audience rapport. In his other life, Pat is a journalist in Washington, DC who covers Congress, the White House and the federal agencies and is a regular on the speaking circuit providing the “inside scoop” on Washington and the legislative process. [email protected] (301) 942-1996, P.S. If you think you recognize Pat as the speaking/humor coach trying to teach Borat the “NOT!” joke in the “BORAT” movie. You’re correct, that’s him. Live Auction Item Value Item Description 1 $800 Bryce Harper Autographed Washington Nationals Jersey Donated by Bethesda Big Train This authentic Washington Nationals jersey has been personally hand signed by Washington Nationals All-Star outfielder Bryce Harper. A must have for any Nationals fan! 2 $800 Chris Davis Autographed All-Star Game Jersey Donated by Bethesda Big Train Baltimore Orioles star Chris Davis led the majors with 53 home runs and 138 RBIs which resulted in him being named to his first All-Star team. Make sure you bid on this rare authentic All-Star Game jersey signed by the man otherwise known as Crush! 3 $600 Cal Ripken Jr. Autograph Package Donated by Cal Ripken Jr. Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. visited Shirley Povich Field over the summer and left some things just for the auction! Enjoy this jersey, bat, baseball and #8 scoreboard number from the original Povich Field scoreboard all signed by the Ironman himself! 4 $2,000 Luxury Costa Rica Resort and Spa Vacation Donated by Florblanca Resort This romantic resort sits along one the best surf beaches on Costa Rica’s Pacific coastline, the five-mile Santa Teresa Beach Break.
    [Show full text]
  • R. Plapinger Baseball Books
    R. PLAPINGER BASEBALL BOOKS (#294) BASEBALL NON-FICTION CATALOG #42 SPRING/SUMMER 2006 P.O. Box 1062, Ashland, OR 97520 (541) 488-1220 • [email protected] $4.00 1 Thank You For Requesting This Catalog. Please Read These Notes Before You Begin. Books are listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name. All books are hardback unless indicated PB which means a “pocket size” paperback or TP which means a larger format paperback. “Orig.” means a book was never published in hardback, or was first published as a paperback. “Sim w. hb” means that the hard and paper covered editions were published simultaneously. All books are First Editions to the best of my knowledge, unless indicated reprint (rpt) or later printing (ltr ptg). Books and dust jacket grading: Mint (mt) (generally used only for new books); Fine (fn); Very Good (vg); Good (g) (this is the average condition for a used book); Fair (fr); Poor (p). Grade of dust jacket (dj) precedes the grade of the book (dj/bk). If a book has no dj: (ndj). PC indicates a photo or picture cover on the book itself (not the jacket). When I know a dj was never issued, I indicate: “as iss.” In addition to the grades above “+” and “-” are used to indicate minor variations in condition. Specific defects to a book or dj are noted, as are ex-library (x-lib) and book club (BC) editions. X-lib books generally exhibit some, or all of the following traits: front or rear flyleaf removed, glue and/or tape stains on covers and/or flyleaves, stamps on edges or flyleaves, library pocket.
    [Show full text]
  • As Baseball Gets Underway, One Voice Is Missing
    As baseball gets underway, one voice is missing In my formative years and later — once I’d discovered my vocation in the non-Catholic sense — I used to read sportswriters the way pianists would listen to Mozart or Chopin or Beethoven, or filmmakers would watch Scorsese or Kubrick or Capra. You read — or listen, or watch — not to be entertained, but to be educated. I have dozens of books placed neatly on shelves that I haven’t picked up in ages and dozens more stowed away in the attic for some distant future where I have more time to wander through them and continue my studies — compilations of columns by the all-timers: Red Smith and Frank DeFord and Dan Jenkins and Jim Murray and Rick Reilly, when he still had his good fastball. But when it comes to sportswriting — for me, anyway — there are really only two categories: baseball and everything else. There’s a romanticism about good baseball writing that transports the reader back to simpler days. When I was in my early 20s and stealing liberally from the giants I mentioned above, I found an old dog-eared copy of “The Boys of Summer,” Roger Kahn’s opus on the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1950s, in a used bookstore while working in Vero Beach, Florida — Dodgertown! It still is my favorite baseball book, and for the longest time Kahn was my favorite baseball writer. Now he slides in at No. 2. Bob Lockwood, who graced the pages of this newspaper for years, didn’t always write about baseball, but it was his pieces on baseball that made me fall in love with his writing.
    [Show full text]
  • Essay: Understanding First Amendment Freedoms Through the Remarkable Life of “The Greatest” – Muhammad Ali
    267 ESSAY: UNDERSTANDING FIRST AMENDMENT FREEDOMS THROUGH THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF “THE GREATEST” – MUHAMMAD ALI DAVID L. HUDSON, JR. AND GENE POLICINSKI† Muhammad Ali may have been the most recognizable person in the world during his time on the planet.1 The former Olympic gold medalist and three-time world heavyweight boxing champion became a cultural icon on a global scale, transcending racial and other barri- ers. Award-winning author David Maraniss wrote, “his popularity transcends politics, race, country and religion. He [was] universally accepted as a man who stood up for what he believed in and paid the price and prevailed.”2 Former Atlanta mayor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young said that Ali “forced us to think internationally.”3 President George W. Bush said of Ali when awarding him a Presi- dential Medal of Freedom in 2005: “Across the world, billions of people know Muhammad Ali as a brave, compassionate and charming man, and the American people are proud to call Muhammad Ali one of our own.”4 President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle perhaps said it best upon Ali’s death in 2016: “Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it. We are all better for it.”5 † David L. Hudson, Jr. is a First Amendment Fellow for the Freedom Forum Institute and a Justice Robert H. Jackson Fellow for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. He also serves as an assistant professor of law at Belmont Univer- sity College of Law. He also is a licensed boxing judge who has judged more than a dozen world championship bouts.
    [Show full text]
  • Baseball Diplomacy, Baseball Deployment: the National
    BASEBALL DIPLOMACY, BASEBALL DEPLOYMENT: THE NATIONAL PASTIME IN U.S.-CUBA RELATIONS by JUSTIN W. R. TURNER HOWARD JONES, COMMITTEE CHAIR STEVEN BUNKER LAWRENCE CLAYTON LISA LINDQUIST-DORR RICHARD MEGRAW A DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History in the Graduate School of The University of Alabama TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA 2012 Copyright Justin W. R. Turner 2012 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT The game of baseball, a shared cultural affinity linking Cuba and the United States, has played a significant part in the relationship between those nations. Having arrived in Cuba as a symbol of growing American influence during the late nineteenth century, baseball would come to reflect the political and economic connections that developed into the 1900s. By the middle of the twentieth century, a significant baseball exchange saw talented Cuban players channeled into Major League Baseball, and American professionals compete in Cuba’s Winter League. The 1959 Cuban Revolution permanently changed this relationship. Baseball’s politicization as a symbol of the Revolution, coupled with political antagonism, an economic embargo, and an end to diplomatic ties between the Washington and Havana governments largely destroyed the U.S.-Cuba baseball exchange. By the end of the 1960s, Cuban and American baseball interactions were limited to a few international amateur competitions, and political hardball nearly ended some of these. During the 1970s, Cold War détente and the success of Ping Pong Diplomacy with China sparked American efforts to use baseball’s common ground as a basis for improving U.S.-Cuba relations.
    [Show full text]
  • Book, Cubs Bobblehead Bring the Babe's
    Book, Cubs bobblehead bring the Babe’s Called Shot back to life By George Castle, CBM Historian Posted Monday, May 12th, 2014 On Friday, May 16, as part of the Wrigley Field’s 100th anniversary celebration, the Cubs celebrate Babe Ruth’s “Called Shot” with a bobblehead giveaway that commemorates the most famous event in Wrigley Field history. The Chicago Tribune ranked the Called Shot No. 1 of its Wrigley Field top 100 memorable events, just in front of the Bartman Game on Oct. 14, 2003: “For decades the argument has persisted. Did Babe Ruth call his home run shot or did he not at Wrigley Field in Game 3 of the Yankees' 1932 World Series sweep of the Cubs? As Cubs bench jockeys jeered him, Ruth clearly waved one, then two fingers to signify his strike count against pitcher Charlie Root. Before pitch Dr. David J. Fletcher No. 3 rocketed off his bat and over the flagpole in cen- ter, the Babe appeared to wave toward the pole.” True to history and tradition (and often Ruth’s own mistaken memory) surrounding the Called Shot, the Tribune got the pitch count wrong until this author pointed out the error on April 14, 2014 and the newspaper quietly corrected the mistake. It was not the third pitch, but the fifth, that the 37-year-old Ruth belted out of Wrigley Field in the fifth inning on Oct. 1, 1932. For this baseball historian, the legend surrounding the Called Shot has held my attention my entire life. Ever since I was a young boy living in Peoria in the early 1960s, I would constantly re-read sto- ries regarding baseball’s most famous player making his prediction The Called Shot come true at Wrigley Field like it was baseball gospel.
    [Show full text]